The aftershocks of the pandemic and ongoing global skills shortage are set to continue to drive automation investment well into 2023. It is hoped that it will not only supplement existing workers but also unlock new business capabilities and insights. As customer service expectations increase, and the speed of sales is accelerated, using automation within the sales order process is more popular than ever but, which sales order processing automation trends are expected to have the biggest impact going forward?
Poll results
In our most recent LinkedIn poll, we asked our social media followers which automation trend they thought would have the biggest impact on sales order processing?
Sales order processing automation trends: what we found
Data cleansing
44% of respondents said they thought data cleansing would have the biggest impact on sales order processing automation trends.
Data cleansing is a process in which inaccurate, poorly formatted, or otherwise messy data is organised and corrected. In the instance of sales order processing, one of the biggest benefits is the savings in time and better customer service it brings with it. Data cleansing helps keep vital customer data up to date, for example if a customer has changed address, phone number or other contact details. If these were wrong, your business instantly needs to manually input new details, and you lose that quick interaction and good customer service benefits. By ensuring that data is clean and precise, you can help achieve the full potential of sales order automation.
Hyperautomation
33% of respondents said they thought hyperautomation would be the biggest automation trend to have an impact on sales order processing.
Hyperautomation is the concept of automating everything in a business that can be automated. The aim is to streamline processes across their business using technology to run without human intervention, such as artificial intelligence (AI). During sales order processing, hyperautomation examples would include understanding documents using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) or understanding emails using NLP (Natural Language Processing). A recent survey shows that automation saves businesses from $5 to $15 per sales order, and reduces sales order cycle times by > 46 percent. Highlighting the benefits of automating the sales order process.
Just-in-time workflows
11% of respondents selected Just-in-time (JIT) workflows as having the biggest impact on sales order processing automation trends.
Just in time (JIT) is a workflow methodology aimed at reducing flow times within production systems, as well as response times from suppliers and to customers. As inventory moves through the manufacturing process, it can signal when it’s time to order more stock, meaning a business can ensure they’re always in peak production and storage capabilities dependant on orders. This can not only help ensure customers get the best service from products always being in stock, or short manufacturing times because they’re ready to go, but it also helps the supplier save money on storage and over stock costs.
Ander
Finally, 11% of respondents selected ‘other’.
While ‘other’ could be a number of different sales order processing automation trends, it may have been user analytics. Behaviour analytics will continue to be useful for sales teams to gain a deeper understanding of customers’ interests, pain points, and motivation for future actions and purchases. Behaviour analytic automation can help provide better customer experience using real-time data from customer interactions and events.
Meer informatie
B2BE’s experience in the supply chain sector allows our customers to build, expand and adapt successfully, enabling greater effectiveness. To engage with B2BE and offer feedback on what matters most to you and your business, make sure to follow us on LinkedIn en via sociale media. U kunt ook Stem in onze laatste LinkedIn poll. Als u uw supply chain-strategie wilt bespreken, contact opnemen with us. You can learn more about Verkoop Order Automatisering here.